The first known English bushcrafters?

[Hathor]

Hi all,

Did a search of the forums but did not see this topic come up before, so here goes.

I am currently reading a book entitled 'The English Resistance: the underground war against the Normans' by Peter Rex. (No connection to the autor and not a great book anyway). He describes the English method of resistance as effectively guerilla warfare: attack and then melt into the forests or fens. The Normans referred to their adversaries as 'silvatici', which is the equivalent in Engllish of 'wildmen' or 'woodsmen'. Hereward the Wake later became the most famous example.

Leaving aside our primitive ancestors, I wondered what other examples of bushcrafters from history people might know?

 

[wicca]

I saw in a RM dvd an account of Jewish partisans during World War 2 who lived deep in the Russian forests. They produced their own oil by distillation, lived in semi underground log shelters and used natural resources to survive and it seems continue a quite impressive resistance to the invading German Army.

 

[Mesquite]

Robin Hood and his merry men?

 

[Shewie]

Stig of the dump ?

 

[novembeRain]

eddie mcgee, post second world war though. Anyone remember his tv series? I've got the book but it was before my time.

 

[sam_acw]

What about Hereward the Wake?, I think the butchers of Boxgrove were a little earlier though.

 

[Robbo]

I saw in a RM dvd an account of Jewish partisans during World War 2 who lived deep in the Russian forests. They produced their own oil by distillation, lived in semi underground log shelters and used natural resources to survive and it seems continue a quite impressive resistance to the invading German Army.

New movie starring Daniel Craig about this called "Defiance" coming out soon, though how much it will concentrate on them living off the land remains to be seen.

 

[hog]

Robert Rogers. Of the Indian wars.
Hiroo Onoda- Japanese soldier who only surrended in 1974 after hiding on islands near the Philipines.

 

[robin wood]

What about Alfred the Great, he must have done a spot of bushcrafting whilst hiding in the marshes and burning cakes?

Seriously I think its a bit of a daft question, the further you back back in time the more of what we think of today as bushcraft was simply a part of everyday life. The Glastonbury Lake village dwellers for instance 100bc-50AD made most of the craft items bushcrafters do and they farmed, foraged and fished. Go back to bronze age Flag Fen and I would expect a higher proportion of forage and hunting and lower proportion of farming.